Members of the arachnid class—think spiders, scorpions and harvestmen (daddy long legs)—are often the targets of revulsion, disgust and fear. Yet, they are crucial for ecosystems to thrive. Given the crash in worldwide biodiversity, including what some call the “insect apocalypse,” a pair of ecologists at the University of Massachusetts Amherst decided to check in on the general state of insects and arachnids in the U.S.—only to discover massive gaps in the data. Their research, published recently in PNAS, points to an urgent need to assess, protect and value insects and arachnids, a key pillar of planetary health.

The newest issue of The Journal of Raptor Research is a special issue focused on movement ecology — how and why raptors move. This can include classic movements like migration, as well as nomadism. Short-eared Owls (Asio flammeus) fall into the latter category — they have a penchant for small mammals that breed in “boom and bust” cycles approximately every four years. Therefore, these owls must travel great distances to find prey in sufficient numbers. This requires a high degree of nuanced perception, yet we know very little about the actual mechanisms that allow an owl to accurately locate these peaks in prey cycles. Changing climate regimes can severely impact where and when small mammals show up on the landscape, especially in the tundra, where many predators rely up on their presence. There is an increased need for conservation leaders to understand the decision-making of species whose survival is linked to these ephemeral pulses in prey, and owls are a strong choice for future investigation.

A new internationally peer-reviewed scientific article introduces a science-based operational framework developed with the Danish Biodiversity Council. The framework can help countries assess their genuine national contributions to protecting 30% of land and sea by 2030. When applied to Denmark, the framework shows that the official Danish reporting substantially overestimates the country’s progress towards meeting the international targets.  

A new study from the University of Helsinki reveals how plant mitochondria draw molecular oxygen away from chloroplasts, an interaction not previously documented. The discovery sheds new light on how plants regulate oxygen inside their tissues, with implications for understanding plant metabolism and stress acclimation.

Building functional human muscle in the laboratory has long been a goal of regenerative medicine, but one stubborn obstacle remains: real muscle is not just a mass of cells. Its strength and function depend on exquisitely ordered myofibers, all aligned in precise directions that vary from one muscle to another. Reproducing that internal order has proved far harder than shaping muscle tissue into the right external form.

In the International Journal of Extreme Manufacturing, a research team from Xi'an Jiaotong University has now found a way to solve both problems at once. By using electric forces during the electrohydrodynamic bioprinting process, they have created living muscle tissues whose cells naturally line up just as they do in the human body, showing how electric forces can be used not just to precisely bioprint tissue, but to quietly instruct cells how to organize themselves.